EXe Lore
The lore of eXe was originally featured in the eXe General Discussion Forums in a topic entitled Story Time. It proved to be very popular and features several chapters although it is not current with the events which have occured in eXe. "I've been thinking about this for a while, and I've decided to write the 'lore' of '''eXe in a fantasy style. That means, some names have been changed but everyone should be able to understand. Tell me what you think, and I'll be adding more chapters as things happen." - greedyFarmer''' From Exodus to Genesis Long ago, the kingdom of Tactalia was a peaceful place, welcoming all people of all creeds and colours. Its many towns were refuge for those escaping the vast wasteland and the trolls that inhabited the area known as the Web. One of these towns was called Starfall, a happy community respected and adored by all. All was well in Starfall and all of Tactalia accepted them, despite their different beliefs. All apart from one. The king of Tactalia, Bignatius, disagreed with the beliefs of Starfall, despising their way of achieving individual spiritual enlightenment as opposed to the communal advancement which was the belief of the rest of Tactalia. Having previously attempted to convert Starfall to the more common religion and failed, he was already incensed with the thriving town. His anger was only matched by his cunning and wickedness and he sent spies to the town, trying to find if Starfall were willing to change their beliefs. The spies, seeing Starfall, returned to the king, reporting that although they did seek individual enlightenment, that they did so in such a way that it was necessary for communal interaction at a level higher than the rest of Tactalia and that they would never change. The king, upon hearing the report, waved them away, insisting that for the safety of Tactalia, he would have to eliminate the leaders of the town, then force his own will upon them. However, his plan was destined to fail. Starfall, being so strongly liked in Tactalia, could get information very quickly. They realised the kings plan and the wise men of the town gathered and, in secret, planned their escape from Tactalia. Assassins came in the night to find empty homes and deserted streets, the entire of Starfall had made their escape. Starfall, now without a home, were lost in the wilderness of the Web. Joined by some of the nearby town of Warsong, escaping the persecution of Bignatius also, a council of wise men was formed. Led by a man known only as “The Daywalker” by those who revered him and “The Quadravinge by those who feared him, the council led the lost tribe across the wasteland, battling trolls until they found a land they could call home. After near an age of searching, the council stopped and proclaimed, “Here, this is OUR land!” And what a land it was. The council named the land Eve, due to its abundant fields and life-giving springs. Surely, this was a place fit for the gods themselves. As the town of Starfall recovered from its relocation, it grew stronger as a community. Now being able to create their own laws, they gave more freedom and power to the people, distancing themselves from the tyrannical reign of Bignatius. The new kingdom of Eve was at peace. Trials and Tribulations Peace did not last long however. A missionary from the wasteland arrived, spreading a new religion. This new religion was whispered silently at first, all in Starfall still abiding with their pursuit of individual enlightenment. As time went on, however, people were gradually leaving the town to go pray to the gods of the new religion in the woods with others who could not resist the lure. Many of those who remained faithful, despised the new religion, seeing it as tearing apart Starfall and all that the exodus from Tactalia had achieved. Those separatists were praying openly now, unashamed. All of those who remained in Starfall were becoming increasingly aggravated with this new religion, fearing the end of the fledgling kingdom. Eventually however, “The Daywalker” intervened. It seems that many of those who remained in Starfall were not meditating with the others at the usual time and were instead praying to these new Gods. Daywalker knew then that this was an epidemic, a crisis that would either make or break the new kingdom. Calling the council together, they sought an answer to the problems. Remembering king Bignatius, they realised that forced conversion was a ridiculous concept and instead perpetuated the spirit of openness and acceptance of all. Because of this, the council formed a new town, allowing those who wished to leave to go and live in this new town, practising this new religion while being able to remain in the kingdom of Eve. The wisdom of the council and their acceptance of others cooled the building tension between Starfall and these separatists, both working together to build the new town of Legendas. Some tensions do remain between the two towns but trade is flowing well and the open mindedness of the kingdom is being emulated by all those who resided in her. All was well again, Eve was ready to face the next challenges, stronger and united. First Blood Things were faring better in Eve. People in Starfall were accepting Legendas, although some still begrudgingly. With more from the other side of the river wanting to move to Legendas, it seemed it was a town destined to prosper and flourish. With that testing period over, the Daywalker could now look forward to the future and those long, lazy summer days and of course the nights in the tavern, sharing ale with good men, flirting with women and general good cheer. One of these nights in his favourite tavern, the Team’s Speech, while talking of all manner of things an argument broke out. The trouble maker instigating this was from Starfall, but from the other side of the river, unaware of the customs of those on the eastern side of the town. He had a problem with one of the laws recently set down by the council and was publically slandering both them and the good kingdom of Eve. Many of the council were present at the time, relaxing after a hard day and heard his wails of injustice. The council bade him speak no more, instead asking him to be more civil and pose his argument in a more refined way, in the proper location. He, being drunk from his earlier debauchery, began to hurl abuse at the council, uttering such disgusting insults that none could speak. Silence fell across the tavern. Then, the Daywalker stood. Approaching the knave, he gave him one last chance to repent and he would be spared. If only the fool had listened. Spitting in the face of the Daywalker, he cooly wiped his face and lowered his hood. To look at the face of the Daywalker is to summon the demon that inhabits his soul, the QuadraVinge. Looking upon the face of the demon, the man went mad, babbling and foaming at the mouth, convulsing in a seizure. In a booming voice, as if from the heavens themselves, he proclaimed, “I hereby banish you back to the wasteland of the Web. You nor none of your blood shall ever return to this place. You are a cursed man now; you shall walk this world alone.” Using the powers of the night, the demon banished the man, and it was as if he had never existed. The Daywalker slowly raised his hood again and sat down, drinking from his tankard. Conversation resumed but there was an aura now that could not be shaken, the first person had been banished from Eve, all knew there would be more, and all hoped to never witness another. Infection The Apothecary had packed and was ready to depart, ready to take his passage of trials. All had taken them in the past, making the pilgrimage to Examinor in the early days of summer. All had been planned for, everything taken into account. He had saddled up and left, but what he left behind, no one had foreseen. An infection had broken out in Eve, caused by an ever increasing amount of people who were pouring into the kingdom from the desolate Web. These pinkies, infected by the trolls of the Web, were overpopulating the town, and with the Apothecary away, the situation could escalate beyond even his control. Quarantine was set up at the edge of the town, Pinkies from the wasteland being herded into there by all members of the specially assigned refugee team and the infection squad. Usually, the Apothecary would be leading the IS, performing triage and locating the diseased once they were sure that they were now clean. With him gone, the RT were processing more and more people than the IS could handle. Then the situation became worse, another member of IS would be leaving as well, going on a spiritual hallucinogenic trip to the southern beaches of his homeland. With both of them gone, the fate of all of the towns in Eve would rest in the hands of two to take care of the fifty, and counting, sick. Daywalker, having his informants spread around the town, anticipated this catastrophe in the making. Calling on the wise shaman Zemekiah, he would be able to care for the sick while the shaman would be able to heal their bodies and return balance to their souls. Even with them, it would still be a monumental task, but with the skills of the other two IS, they would make it happen. The talented Marlin, allocating the positions for the infected to go after they had been purified of all infection of the Web and dependable Mud, taking care of the sick and teaching them the ways of the town of Starfall. Would they succed? Transcendence The Apothecary had returned, filled with knowledge and wisdom that dwarfed his capabilities before. While away on his rite of passage, he spoke with beings higher than our own, filling him with the knowledge of the world and giving him the vision of the Gods. We mortals are but pawns on the chessboard of life and now he knew how to play the game. He had transcended. Coming back, he was hailed a prophet and god-touched, raised to the status of demigod. The high council, seeing his heightened sense of being and overwhelmed the aura he now emitted, met and quickly decided that he would join the ranks of the defenders of the council. These DC’s resided in every town in Eve, spreading the knowledge of the kingdom and policing the streets, keeping Eve free from those wretched trolls. With the apothecary now in the ranks of the DC’s, he must now have a weapon worthy of one. The Daywalker commissioned a mighty warhammer be smelted and infused with the magics of the many wisemen of Eve. Overlooking the moulds himself, the Daywalker ordered that the inscriptions to be the same as that of his warhammer, showing his favour on his prodige. Now wielding his mighty warhammer, he was an apothecary no more. He was now a warrior monk, filled with zeal for the kingdom he served and willing to lay his life on the line to defend it, like all DC’s. Seeing his successor walking the streets of Starfall, hammer strapped to his back, the Daywalker was filled with both pride and fear, hoping never to make the mistake of betraying Eve lest his successor decides the time was right for new management… The Red Haze Daywalker took to the streets, pacing frantically while his mind surged and twisted around the own internal turmoil he had created. While having a new DC made him feel more secure in the knowledge that Eve was even safer now, he felt threatened and was compelled to flex his muscles and ensure that everyone knew who was in charge. He knew he could not let his emotions rule him though, and as a wise man, he went to meditate to control his emotions and let his insecurities go. He is only half human, vulnerable to all the weaknesses we normal folk have inflicted on us daily. After many hours of meditation, he controlled his emotions, deciding that he would not act on them. However, in the heat of the moment control can be lost as easily as money in a brothel. While again roaming the streets of Starfall, he noticed a fairly new stall in the marketplace. Curiosity piqued, he strolled on over to see what goods the vendor was selling. The trader was a merchant from the part of Starfall that lived on the other side of the river, travelling all this way to share his goods with the eastern half of the town. After hailing the trade, the Daywalker asked what wares he was selling. The charismatic trader replied that he was an amateur cartographer, hoping to, in the future, make an income selling maps he had drawn himself. A great crowd had gathered now, hoping to see the maps he had made, maybe staging one of their weekly jousting tournaments on one of the locations he had drawn. In the crowd though, lingered a being that cannot be described as human or troll. Many half-trolls living in the town were permitted due to the natural bloodlust of the trolls being dampened by their love for drink or paintings of girls from the far east of the world. This monstrosity though, was taken into the town out of both pity and the sad belief that the actions of the good people in Starfall would change him. He had done many things before that had ruffled the feathers of many clan members but the high council had stayed their hand, citing patience and hoping for a change in character. Sadly this had not come and upon this thing looking at the maps, he began to tear them up to the despair of the cartographer, having seen hours of his work destroyed by this neanderthal. Daywalker, having stayed his hand for so long and with his patience wearing thin, grasped his hammer and incited prayers and blessings before swinging his hammer down upon the abomination, banishing it back to the wasteland from whence it came. The awkwardness that came from the first public banishment was non-existent now, everyone glad to see that animal sent back to where it belongs. It had been given chances to change and a glorious home in Eve but it had forsaken it all and returned to its old ways and paid the price for it. Summer The air was still with the early rays of sun sliding between the canopies of leaves, giving their warmth to the world below it. Crickets set the background score, providing a smooth lullaby to accompany this lazy August morn. The grass, still slick with morning dew, radiantly glowed before being trampled under impatient feet. There was no time to dream away the day, work was to be done and a lot of it. All around Eve, people hustled and bustled, rushing to finish the final preparations for this wonderful day of pageantry and celebration. The first ever tournament to be hosted in Eve was about to commence and with many outsiders coming to show their skill and prowess, the town of Starfall needed to look its best. Champions were already arriving, warming up in the sparring rings, hoping to be named champion and receive all the fame and riches that would await the ultimate fighter. Separate tournaments would be hosted on both sides of the river, first on the East and then a week later on the West and with much pressure on them, the inhabitants on the eastern side felt that they should lead the way and work out many of the problems before the western tournament. Regardless of the division of the river, many people had come from the western side to cheer on the members competing from Starfall and look at many of the other outside champions that were participating. The warriors of Eve taking part were led by Infuratius, a man possessing the tactical nous of a true general, the charm of a politician and the sheer combat strength of a warlord. He led his mighty band of soldiers into battle and expected the same level of skill from them as he had, making them a fearsome bunch indeed. Numbering 13, this squad was ready to take on the outside champions and show that Eve could rival any other Kingdom that they might come across. Most fearsome of all was the warrior called Thing. He was named this due to being half-troll meaning that he often had a vile temper combined with multiple physical deformities making him both repulsive to look at and giving him the strength of ten men, making him a very worthy adversary indeed. So, with The Daywalker initiating the starting ceremony, the tournament had begun. Starting early in the afternoon and going on late into the night, it was a true test of stamina in which only one man could be named champion and after this long time only one man stood standing in the ring, victorious. Although not from Eve, all congratulated him on his success and wished him well, giving him the gold promised from the fight. Special mention must be made to the warrior called Skytiger, fighting boldly on, representing Eve and the eastern side of Starfall before being felled late in the tournament. With the tournament over, many impatiently and excitedly anticipated the next. Daywalker, seeing his people’s lust for more sport, went to the man known only as “The Banker”, requesting more funds. Although marked as a stingy man, his character was not truly represented by his name, instantly making the gold available for more tournaments and funding future building projects in the kingdom. As he left the Banker’s offices, he bumped into one of the councilmen from Starfall who, fresh from a successful night of gambling in the tavern, made more funds available for Eve. Daywalker, now with the funds to stimulate more growth in Eve had a lot to plan for now and a lot to achieve. Category:History